


I Hadn't Planned On You

by wordshakers



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Slow Burn, anderperry, massive amounts of gay yearning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordshakers/pseuds/wordshakers
Summary: Neil Perry is a sophomore in college, just trying to get his bachelor's degree in drama without getting disowned by his parents. Then he accidentally ends up falling for the boy who stumbled into poetry class late on the first day.This is a new work based on a concept (and title) that I came up with 2 years ago! Anderperry, slow burn, college AU.
Relationships: Todd Anderson/Neil Perry
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	I Hadn't Planned On You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my way of getting back into writing after two years of hiatus-- and yes, it's Anderperry again! This is a completely new fic based on the concept of another fic (of the same name) that I started back in 2018. That one only ended up having one chapter, which I rewrote almost completely to start off this new story. A big thanks to my two beta readers from my DPS discord server, and an extra special thank you to my partner-- we've had our own slow burn college love story, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it was a pretty big inspiration for this fic. I hope you enjoy! :)

It was a surprisingly warm afternoon for early September. Neil savored the warmth of the sunlight on his face as he walked briskly across campus. As much as he’d rather be sitting on the quad preparing for fall play auditions, which were just around the corner, Poetry was his final class of the day, and he’d still have time to start memorizing his monologue afterwards. Besides, it was an elective, and if it weren’t for all of the acting courses he had this semester, it would’ve had strong potential to be his favorite class.

It was the beginning of his second year at Kingsley University, and Neil had never been happier. He adored everything about his college, his new friends, and his life, even considering the relationship he had with his parents, which had gone from bad to worse ever since he chose his school.

Neil’s parents had been furious when he went against their wishes and chose a liberal arts university over pre-med. He could still hear his father’s rage in the back of his mind. “No son of mine is going to be a goddamn drama major!” he had screamed at Neil, spitting out the last two words as if they were poisonous. “Father, I don’t want to be a doctor, I’ve never wanted to be a doctor,” Neil had tried to explain, but he had been cut off by a slap across the face from his father, which made his mother scream. “You’re going to college for pre-med or you are no son of mine,” his father had said, simmering with anger. Neil’s cheek stung with pain, and for a moment he had felt tears welling in his eyes. Instead of crying, however, something deep inside Neil had possessed him to stand up, look his father directly in the eyes, and say, “Then I guess I’m not your son.” Neil could hardly believe that those words had just come out of his mouth, if it wasn’t for the look on his father’s face. It was the first time Neil had ever seen him completely speechless. That night, he had packed his things and moved out, with his father and mother glaring at him, not saying a word.

He wouldn’t have known what to do if it hadn’t been for Charlie. They had been close for as long as Neil could remember, and Charlie had even managed to convince his parents to let Neil stay with them after the incident, citing it as necessary practice for dorm life... and it didn’t hurt that the Dalton estate had twice as many bedrooms than the family actually needed. Since the initial falling out, Neil’s parents had softened, but barely. They still refused to pay for his schooling, but at least he hadn’t been disowned. Neil still hadn’t dared to tell them that he was gay. That might have actually sealed the deal.

Neil made it to class with a few minutes to spare, glancing around the room for familiar faces. His university was small enough that there was always at least one person he recognized from somewhere, but his heart sank at the realization that there was nobody in the classroom that he knew well enough to sit next to and strike up a conversation with. He finally settled on a mostly empty table in the back of the room, with a girl he vaguely remembered from a party Charlie had dragged him to last semester… he was somewhat sure that Knox had proclaimed himself to be in love with her at one point, but he had done that with half the people on campus by now. Resting his pin-decorated messenger bag on the floor, Neil took the seat across the table from her, giving her a polite smile, which she returned.

“We’ve officially reached 3:30, I think now’s a good time to get started.”

The professor, a friendly-looking woman with long, greying hair, made her way to the front of the room. “Welcome to Poetry of the Romantics. I’m Dr. Bartlett; you can also call me Marie. This course covers many of the most well-known Romantic poets: Bryon, Shelley, Wordsworth, you get the picture. And I’m going to be honest with you... It’s one of my favorites to teach,” she said with a warm smile. “But, enough about me. I want to hear from you. Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves? Name, major, class… and your favorite poet.”

Neil shifted in his seat as the other students in the class went through the necessary first-day motions, grateful that he already had a favorite poet and didn’t have to come up with one on the spot. The girl across from him introduced herself as Chris Noel, jogging Neil’s memory of the way Knox had pined after her for nearly a month before falling head over heels for some guy he met at a showing of _Rocky Horror._

After Chris cited Sylvia Plath as her favorite poet, the class turned to Neil, who, having sat in the back of the room, was the last introduction to sit through.

“Hi, I’m Neil Perry. Sophomore, drama major… and my favorite poet is Walt Whitman.”

“Hi, Neil,” Dr. Bartlett said with a smile, before turning to the rest of the class. “Alright! Now that we’ve met everyone, we can start taking a look at the syllabus…”

A knock on the door cut through the professor’s sentence, causing her to pause and turn towards the sound.

“Oh, I stand corrected! It looks like we have one more face to meet before we get started,” she said, walking over and opening the door to reveal a boy Neil had never seen before.

He was tall and slim, with dark, tousled blonde hair and a navy blue sweatshirt. His face was flushed red, and he was slightly out of breath, presumably from rushing across campus to avoid being too late.

“I’m sorry… that I’m late,” he said, his voice quiet as he wiped his hands on his black jeans, trying to catch his breath between words.

“Hey, that’s alright! We were just finishing up introductions! Not to put you on the spot, but you can do yours now! Name, year, major, favorite poet.”

The boy’s eyes darted from the professor to the rest of the class, his face going redder. He swallowed hard, mumbling, “Um, Todd Anderson. Sophomore… transfer. Creative writing.”

_Wow, he looks… really uncomfortable._ Neil felt a sense of pity deep in his chest.

“And your favorite poet?” Dr. Bartlett asked, clearly meaning well.

Todd glanced away, looking as if he would rather be anywhere than speaking in front of a full classroom.

“Uh… Walt Whitman.”

Neil’s eyebrows shot up.

“Wow, two in a row for Walt! Sounds like he’s got a fan club started,” the professor said with a grin. “Thank you, Todd, you’re free to sit down.”

Todd muttered a thank you before speed-walking to the back of the classroom, taking the empty seat next to Neil. Neil tried to offer him a friendly smile, but Todd avoided eye contact at all costs. His face was still flushed a bright red, and Neil couldn’t help but think that it had nothing to do with his walk to class.

The professor began going over the syllabus, but as much as Neil tried to pay attention, something kept bringing his mind back to the boy sitting next to him. Todd had said he was a transfer, and Neil remembered how daunting it was to be in a new school environment as a freshman. He couldn’t imagine doing that for two years in a row, let alone without Charlie, the life of the party, to help him make friends.

Glancing over at the professor to make sure that she was wholly focused on the homework policy, Neil leaned towards Todd, lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Hey,” he said, giving the blonde boy a smile that he hoped was reassuring. “You’re the bravest one in the room for having to give an introduction while _standing up.”_

Todd looked up, seemingly a little surprised that Neil was talking to him. When he didn’t get a response, Neil continued.

“I’m Neil. I’m the other inaugural member of the Walt Whitman fan club,” he said with a grin, which, to Neil’s delight, elicited a small smile from Todd.

“Nice to meet you,” Todd said, voice so soft that Neil could barely hear it, but it felt like a victory all the same. Their eyes locked for a moment, before Todd’s gaze flew back to his syllabus, fidgeting with his hands underneath the table.

Neil turned back to his own paper, head feeling slightly fuzzy.

Something about that moment of eye contact had caught him off guard.

//  
The rest of the class was a blur of reading assignments, due dates, and lateness policies, which became increasingly harder for Neil to pay attention to. He was too busy holding himself back from glancing over at the boy sitting next to him. All too quickly, he had found himself determined to make Todd feel comfortable at Kingsley. And for some reason, that felt a whole lot more important than highlighting a paper syllabus he’d probably lose track of anyway.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today, right? It’s still so warm out, you all should go enjoy that,” Dr. Bartlett said, setting her copy of the syllabus down on her desk. 

“Make sure you read the Blake poems for next class, but other than that, I’ve got nothing else for you. See you on Friday!”

Quiet chatter filled the previously silent classroom as students packed up their things, Todd keeping his head down as he slipped his heavily annotated syllabus into a small pocket of his backpack. As Neil put his syllabus away in his folder, he couldn’t help himself, turning to Todd once again.

“So, you’re a transfer student?”

Todd looked up at Neil, zipping his backpack shut. He hesitated for a moment, before nodding tentatively and saying softly, “Yeah.”

“Hey, nice, where did you go before?” Neil said, closing his messenger bag and pulling it over his shoulder.

“Ah… Rutherford,” Todd said, putting his backpack on.

“Rutherford? Isn’t that mostly a business school?” Neil asked, starting to make his way towards the classroom door, hoping to encourage Todd to follow. Fortunately, he succeeded. Todd began to walk with him, nodding at his question.

“Yeah, I, uh, switched majors when I came to Kingsley,” Todd answered, his hands in his pockets as they headed outside. Neil waited a moment, before realizing that Todd wasn’t going to explain further.

“Well, you picked a good school for creative writing,” Neil continued, giving Todd another reassuring smile. “That’s my friend’s major, too, maybe you’ve met him already. Knox Overstreet?”

Todd’s brow furrowed in concentration as he thought, and Neil couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on the other boy’s face. The late afternoon sunlight was already painting the campus grounds in gold, and Todd certainly wasn’t immune to the way the lighting seemed to make everything glow.

“I think he’s in my British Literature class,” Todd said after a moment, snapping Neil out of his unexpected trance. “With, um, David something?”

“Patterson?” Neil asked, remembering Knox complaining about a certain professor named David when he took his freshman literature seminar.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Todd said, and Neil chuckled, replying, “Be careful in that class… make sure you paper clip your essays together, he takes points off for staples.”

Todd laughed a little, saying, “Thanks for the tip.” Neil couldn’t help but feel a small swell of pride.

The two boys were silent for a moment, walking next to each other as they approached the residence halls. 

“This one’s mine,” Todd said, gesturing towards a brick building marked as McGovern Hall.

For some reason he couldn’t quite place, the idea of having to part ways without saying anything else sent a twinge of disappointment through Neil. He decided that if he wanted to offer his friendship, it was now or never.

“Hey, if you’re ever looking for something to do, you’re always welcome to come hang out with me and my friends,” Neil said. “They’re good guys, really. I think they’d like you.”

Todd looked at him, his eyes wide, the golden light of the afternoon falling across his face from a new angle. Neil was suddenly struck by how _blue_ Todd’s eyes were.

“Yeah… maybe sometime. Thanks, Neil,” Todd said, giving Neil a shy smile.

“Sure thing. See you Friday,” Neil waved at him, and Todd waved back as he headed towards the door of his residence hall. Not wanting to seem overly preoccupied, Neil began to walk away, towards his own building. Still, at the sound of the closing door, he couldn’t help but turn back towards McGovern Hall, lost in thought.

Maybe Poetry _was_ going to be his favorite class.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading Chapter 1! I hope to have Chapter 2 out before my classes start up in a couple of weeks. If you're interested in seeing more of my content, check out my other Anderperry fics, or follow me on tumblr at wordshakers <3


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